Igula glanced at him but didn’t say a word.
"Other rankings haven’t been announced yet. Who knows, there might be a relic exploration board, a conspiracy board, or even a mud-coffee gigolo board. Then we might see your glory..."
Igula still didn’t say a word.
"Actually, it’s most likely that some rich woman is keeping you as her boy toy, so you wouldn’t need your poor friends anymore... You get what I’m saying, right?"
Finally, Igula nodded: "I get it. Are you trying to pick a fight?"
"Huh?" Ash scratched his head. "I mean, you really shouldn’t care about not appearing in the Weaving Festival list. Let’s not even mention that you might appear in the next one. Actually, it’s good that you didn’t. Look at us, each one of us has been trapped by the Gospel and ruined. As the one who slipped through the net, you should be laughing."
So far, Hanna, Ash, and Harvey had appeared in the two lists published.
Among the others who hadn’t appeared, Banjee was already in his sixties. It was normal for him not to appear fifty years later. Liss was only about ten years old now, and as the saying goes, "A girl grows and stops staying home," it was only natural for her to rebel against youth and not act with Ash when she grew up.
The only one who should have appeared, Igula, had not left any trace in the rankings so far.
If you could speculate that Ash might have an affair with Hanna in a secret rendezvous for two, surely there was no need for just Ash and Harvey to act together, right? Yet, only Ash and Harvey appeared, with no sign of Igula.
Although no one had said it aloud, everyone thought of a possibility—
"Do you think I’m worried I might die?"
Ash blinked. "Why else would you be so down and not talking? Hey, there’s nothing embarrassing about being afraid of dying. I won’t tease you forever." He even patted Igula on the shoulder.
"Ha, how could I possibly be..." Igula started, then paused and suddenly laughed: "Okay, perhaps I am a bit concerned. But seeing you makes me realize I’m worrying too much."
"Have you forgotten? Our Contract still stands, and you owe me a wish. If I truly faced a life-or-death situation, I’d definitely have you die for me first."
Igula brushed off Ash’s hand. "You’d better pray every night that nothing happens to me; otherwise, you’re going to be in trouble too."
Ash then remembered: "... Well, not necessarily. What if you die when I’m not around?"
"Hmm, that’s indeed a problem. Look here."
Igula suddenly snapped his fingers in front of Ash’s eyes. "There, I’ve placed a psychological Suggestion for you. Once I die and the wish remains unused, this Suggestion will activate and consume the wish instead of me."
Ash rubbed his eyes incessantly, as if he were trying to rub out the Suggestion like eye gunk: "What, what kind of Suggestion?"
"It’s simple. This Suggestion will alter your memory, erasing all your excess memories."
"What counts as excess memory?"
"Memories that have nothing to do with me." Igula’s lips curved up. "That way, I’m the only one left in your memories, and you’d think I’m your most important companion. Then you’d spend your whole life trying to pull me out of Hell."
"You can do that?" Ash was shocked, but quickly shook his head. "But wait, even if all I remembered was you, that wouldn’t necessarily mean I’d want to bring you back to life! Why do you think I’d definitely do that?"
Then the Swindler laughed: "Just kidding. There’s no such convenient psychological Suggestion in this world... Even if there were, it’s not something a Two-winged Mage could cast. I wasn’t speaking before because I was thinking about what to do in the future. After all, you and Harvey have gotten into such big trouble, I’m bound to be dragged down by you, even if I don’t want to."
"So there really isn’t any Suggestion?" Ash broke out into a sweat.
"I feel like you wouldn’t believe me whether I said there was or wasn’t. How about this, I’ll just consume the wish and modify your memory now, so you’ll never doubt again..."
"Then I won’t disturb your thoughts!"